we're standing by to see if north korea takes any action, nuclear tests or intercontinental ballistic missile tests. we'll have much more coming up today "the situation room." that's it for me. 'll be back at 5:00 p.m. "the situation room." for our viewers, amanpour is next. in our "cnn newsroom," newsroom with brooke baldwin starts right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com all right. we'll take it from here. i'm brooke baldwin. thanks for being with me. we'll continue on the hurricane. we'll see how badly it decimated the florida keys. fema telling us homes are in ruins. 60% are damaged and the 10,000 who chose to ride it out and

stay behind in the islands may now have to be evacuated because they have no power, no fuel, no clean water. that's just the florida keys. the bigger picture, more than 6 million without power. 5 million in the state of florida alone. so far seven deaths are blamed on irma in the united states. mean whooim where irma hit was a category 5. at least six deaths are blamed on the storm. wee going to take you to caribbean in a second. but seeing the damage that ravaged the keys, fema estimated 25% are gone and there's so many more with major damage. meanwhile islanders are starting to return home. bill weir has been observing the aftermath from the keys. bill, how is it today? >> reporter: greetings. we're at about mile marker 72,

73 here on the overseas highway. look at how calm the atlantic is today. if only it stayed ta way all the time, eh? but the cost of living in paradise is the destruction of storms like irma as we work our way south as traffic sort of trickles ohm now. this used to be a very popular restaurant called mr. lobster. it's gone. it's been completely wiped away. not so much by wind and there is ooh sign of wind damage on the roofs here but by the storm surge as that 10-15-foot wave came and took that restaurant, a lot of it made of big shipping containers and floated across the antigua harbor and crashing into that boat you see there. the devastation not as bad as we've seen in some other less sturdily constructed areas, but

thankfully lots of proof of life here. as we motored in, we saw people on boats, on balconies drying out their things, generators cranking. a lot of activity on the highway. earth movers clearing the sand. but little hints here of how powerful the storm was. lobster traps from the atlantic side thrown into neighborhoods on this side. we're working our way slowly but surely down to the lower keys where the eyewall of that storm came ashore, and that's where the most concern is for human life. there's no way to confirm who may have perished or like the rest of us just doesn't have cell service. even our cell service is spotty. no running water. no gas. ice is a luxury down here that will bring people to the edge of tears with joy if they find

some. but i'm hearing a lot of resolve, very little self-pity from those in the konk republic. someone from the set said, hey, america, it's just stuff. we're coming back. that's what it's going take to clean up, the most devastating weather in a generation. we're going to keep moving down the keys and report live all along the way. until then, i'm bihm weir. >> bill weir. certainly some of the best reporting i've seen in the last couple of days. he was stuck, got on a boat. one homeowner who returned to the keys founded his office found in shambles. he's on the phone with me now from key largo.

david, you know, i was checking out your website just before we came on. the headline was devastation in the florida keys. how bad. >> it's bad. i mean from the upper keys, it looks a lot like wilma in 2005. i know i'm hearing past the 7 mile bridge, i've heard descriptions, unrecognizable. it's bad. a lot of debris. certainly low-lying areas are completely destroyed. as you said, my office is completely destroyed. it's -- it's going to be a while. i remember even after wilma, which did not directly hit us, and it was a category 2 storm. it was a big surge storm. it took at least a year for this whole island chain to recover. >> my goodness. did you ride it out down there, or did you leave? >> i actually -- we're part of

"the miami herald," so i work from "the miami herald's" office in durrell. a colleague of mine lived in marathon. we have yet to hear from him. the last time was saturday. >> i was just talking to somebody whose cousin and uncle decided to ride it out in mar-a-thma marath marathon, but they're okay. people are unable to get down there and find them. it could be weeks for you guys in keys just getting basic services, water, sewage, power fully restored. how are you getting by? >> i live in miami-dade, so i'm coming down. we have power actually. we went back to our house yesterday. there wasn't a tree standing in our neighborhood, but our house is okay. >> but your office. >> i don't know what we're going to do. i think i'll be working at home a lot or from "the herald" building. i'm going to have to keep coming

down and work remotely. we had a small office in the upper keys, so we'll be able to make arrangements once we get some semblance of order. >> are you driving south? >> i've been driving all day. >> got it. >> typically it takes me an hour to get down here. there's no traffic. usually it's a nice quick ride, but you just had bill on. the further esouth we get, we'r only allowed to get so far. it's eerie looking. when you get down there, it's devastation. >> yep. that's the word the governor used in his news conference yesterday. how are the bridges? it's my understanding a lot of the bridges, you know, were

damaged, or even those that weren't, they had to wait for the government to go in and assess the stability before anyone could drive past. how has your drive been so far? >> so far the drive has been so good. a lot of the reports i'm hearing, there are damages to bridges, a lot of those turned out not to be true. like there's the snake creek draw bridge here in the area. there were reports while the storm was going on it buckled and bent, but that ice just not true. yeah, so far, everywhere i've been able to drive, and like i say, they're not letting anyone drive past mile marker 74, everywhere i've been able to drive, it seems sound. there's stuff all over the place. when you're in the mat a come bia keys, more and more, you see more downed power lines. >> david goodhue, my best to you.

we'll stay in touch. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. let's go to florida. the mayor there already has an initial dollar value there from irma, in the neighborhood of $100 million. that's just in the city of naples alone. ed lavandera is there. what has the mayor said? >> reporter: he's getting ready for a long grueling time as is every other mayor in the area. these streets were deserted, ghost town, no one around. power crews are out trying to get the traffic lights back up. these are the kinds of things they're dealing with, the power lines tipped over, many advantaged in half. that's the kind of clean jupp that's going to take several weeks. as you mentioned, the initial damage in the city of naples, a

small city compared to the rest of the metropolitan areas in south florida, $100 million. kind of staggering. the mayor expected it to go up. we spoke with him a little while ago. let's listen to our conversation with him. >> the process is going to be a long process, but the initial is right now, getting the initial estimates, what -- and then making priority list. >> reporter: so there are 200,000 customers waiting to get power in collier county. 186,000 are still waiting. it could take ten days to get everyone in the stay back online in the city with power. a daunting task, brooke? >> these key things we so take

for granted. thanks for zigzagging across florida. we appreciate you. meantime, tampa, it's not over for you. people who live near rivers, expect flooding in days to come. a gas shortage turning into a massive problem. gas stations waiting to fill up so they can go home. diane gallagher south of tampa. the deal is people want to come home, come home, they want to fill up their gas tanks which makes the demand go up, up, up. >> reporter: believe it or not, the reason we're in brandon and it's like liquid goal, they have 87 grade of gas here. we came word of mouth. we've been traveling all day. we were running out of fuel. someone a at hotel we're staying

at said there's some in brandon. we drove 87 miles to find it. across the street is what we're really seeing. bags over nozzles. that's because of way they get it. they get it through the ports. the ports are closed down. they're trying to get them back online. it is a supply and demand situation. they add up all the gas in this area. we came from jacksonville over to tampa. we saw a little gas in the east and it dried up heading here. they're going to try to replenish it. the good news is this. you see one grade at a time. people are starting to figure it. a lot of people thought it was closed. they thought it wasn't happening. they say 87. that's a big deal. a lot of places they just have diesel. tanker trucks are trying to fill

along through miami and the coast. a lot of other things are opening up. restaurants and people's places of work. they're going to try to come back online. the other issue is they don't have power. so if even gas stations have fuel, they don't have the power. you'll see the cellophane wrapped around the tanks like this. that doesn't necessarily mean they don't have fuel, but they can't run them without power. nearly 40% of the businesses and homes are without electricity at this point. if you don't have power, you can't supply it. >> the pressure is on to get them together and service them. diane gallagher, thanks so much. we'll check in with you. coming up. don't forget about us. that's the message from the irma survivors in the caribbean who were hit hard. the caribbean cutting a path of

destruction in the islands. cnn has crews on the ground, getting a firsthand look of the damage. we'll take you to the caribbean alive, ahead. and as we wait for the white house briefing which is mere moments away, check out those lines. wrapping around city blocks in ford explorer for hillary clinton and her book signing. live pictures there in manhattan. the former presidential candidate opening up about russian interference in the election and ivanka trump's role the white house. you're watching cnn. i'm brook baldwin. we'll be right back. for your heart...

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welcome back. you're watching cnn. i'm brooke baldwin. irmany's wrath turning into paradise lost for some people. an american nurse describes a, quote, desperate situation in st. thomas. for exampleing she says her home blew apart, her words, when irma came through. now she and her two kids are huddled in the shell of their former home. she worries, what happens if people totally run out of food and water. let's ask. polo is on the phone with me. polo, as we look at the situation there, what is the situation with food and water? >> to answer your questions,

brooke, when some of the key things are gone, that's when you leave your home. you see family after family waiting for package to nearby puerto rico. you see many of them, ex-pats tries to make it out. not just food and water, but power outages as whelm it's been five or six days. it's very difficult to explain what u i'm looking at right now. but basically it's supposed to be these lush green hills. but instead these leaves have been strips of any leaves. the best way i can describe it is winter in the caribbean. you have seen the green hills are totally brown. many of these trees have been knocked out and many of these

homes are without roots. after speaking to some of these locals, these families, they have hope of rebuilding, of getting themselves back up, but the reality is it's going to take a very long time. and for some of those who are desperate for any kind of revision, the simple answer is to leave. one person i spoke to at the airport, she calls this island home. she and her little boy have been waiting for days to get package out of here. today illiana and many like her in her situation are hoping to make it to puerto rico, which may finally mean a shower, a meal, shelter, until they can come back to this place they call home, brooke. >> we know aid is on the way, sending in iowa to the bvis. and french president macron is expected to be there this

afternoon. polo sandoval, we'll leave it in tortola, usually such a beautiful place. coming up, stunning images where irma came ashore. people describing to ride it out now describing what that terrifying night was really like. >> i stayed in the bathroom, me and my girlfriend donna. we stayed in the bathroom and hallways. for two days it was hell. you didn't know if you were going to make it or not. you know who likes to be in control? this guy. check it out! self-appendectomy! oh, that's really attached. that's why i rent from national. where i get the control to choose any car

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a lot of the focus right now is down in the florida keys. we're getting more and more pictures of the devastation left behind, specifically in the lower keys. a reporter got the firsthand look of one of the worst hit areas. it's ku joe key where irma came ashore. >> reporter: this is a glimpse of what kujo looks like. the sides and roof ripped off, neighbored coming home to find the devastation. >> you feel sorry for people what they're going through. when it hits home, it's totally different. and it's not just us, it's everybody. >> i stayed in the bathroom, me and my girlfriend donna.

you stayed in the hallways. it was two days of hell. you didn't know if you were going to make it or not. >> when the big gust came by, the floor jumped and a piece of the sheetrock came through. >> reporter: the destruction in the cudjoe is the worst. this is a mobile home park. you take a look around and see everything is pretty much totally destroyed. these mobile homes were ripped apart. we're hoping nobody was here. it's unclear whether or not search and rescue crews have made it here yet. >> reporter: communication continues to be a problem with no cell phone service or electricity. people who were able the ride out the storm are unable to tell them they're okay. >> we're alive and we miss you very much. thank you for all the prayers.

>> your heart goes out for people like that, riding out the storm from your bathroom. he lead relief efforts in katrina. my goodness, general honore. let's talk about it. talk to me about why it is such a race to get the power restored, and who is most at risk? >> well, the risk -- most of the risk is the elderly population, those with respiratory issues and young children who are subject to harsh conditions in living with the weather. brooke, the power is number two on my list. the first thing you have to have is food, water, and medicine. and evacuation. the aircraft is coming in. the fact that helicopters can come in, we can give you food

and water. without power, you can't sustain the community. the next is fuel. you have to have fuel so people can start cleaning up and leave if they wish. a good thing, florida has a generator law that requires the gas stations on the evacuation route to have generators in case the community power grid is up. the next is pod, gets the p.o.d.s in, points of distribution oopds. they're very efficient for distributing es and those who don't have the ability to cook at home. the next is road. make sure the roads, primary roads to the secondary roads so people can get back and forth and you can start distributing as well as start some cleanup. the next would be cell service. you have the get the cell towers up so people can communicate. people who can't communicate can't stay informed. the next is get the stores up so people become self-sustaining.

and the last is some type of temporary housing. that can be done. when you start scoring this by town and by county, these are neighbors. if they're not and not established, people can't live there. i'm sure within 24 hours, a lot of these systems will start coming online if we can get power up. >> i've got it. this is a long list. it's going to take a while. you mentioned temporary housing. a lot of people, general honore, are trying to head home today, tomorrow. you see how bad it is in some parts of florida, especially down in the keys. how would you advise people as they are going home? >> as we advised yesterday, people should wait at least a couple of days until the roads are open, number one. and number two, that the power grid folks are in and they can start working on it. you may spend a lot of time on the roads and people are going

to start running out of gas and get very frustrated. under fema, if you're under one of the counties that has been declared, use your cell phone while you have cell service in this part before you go back into the area. register with fema. within 24 to 36 hours you may have money to cover your housing if you're in one of those designated counties. but register now. and go to the hotel. the hotels are going to come up more and more in miami and other places where peek evacuated from. as they come online, find yourself a hotel and keep your family safe there until it's safe for you to go back to your house. we do not need to put camps up and bring in tents. there's enough hotels in florida to keep people there. that would be my recommendation. find a hotel. stay off that highway until these enablers come up in your community.

there's a lot of enforcement out there and national guard to keep hour house safe. don't worry about running home to secure your house. >> last question, general honore, there had been talk of pea ten chal evacuations from the keys. do you think that would be a smart idea? >> i would recommend the vulnerable population, houses that are totally destroyed, to leave and to offer them the opportunity over the next 24 to 36 hours to come up to miami or here to orlando. there's a lot of hotel rooms available or will be coming available as the electricity comes up. more and more hotels are going to empty. now fema working with the hotel industry will start to identify with those hotel rooms so people can check in. we'll need to get that number of people we're flying in food and water to. the more of that is taken down,

the more can be done. and then we're going to have to put 3,000 or 4,000 workers to get the work done. you might add 3,000 or 4,000 people to get the lights on, cell tower, get the water up and fix the roads. you're going to add to that population. people should be encouraged. buses should be going in and getting people to voluntarily come out and spend a week up here in the mainland. >> general honore, thank you as always for your wise words here in the wake of these kinds of storms and disasters. just to remind you we're moments away from the white house daily briefing, this as hillary clinton take news shots at president trump and his daughter ivanka. you see all those people down there? they're waiting to see the former presidential candidate hillary clinton herself. today is the big day. her book is out. we've got those stories coming for you next. my experience with usaa has been excellent.

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hillary clinton not exactly finished talking about what happened. her book tour kicking off in new york city. people lining up around the block to meet her. she's also doing interview after interview, not holding back on president trump. she said she is, in her word, convinced the campaign co-colluded with russia. she says they're, quote, being played by vladimir putin and his daughter ivanka trump is come poli poli play sanlt with him. >> they need to but if they remain silen and give lip service to contrary points of view, then they are parts of his agenda and should be judged and held accountable for that. >> let's talk about this and other political headlines today.

we'll get to that in a second and, of course, you co-authoring "shattered." the first question, the pictures, the people all around, wrapped around the union square, what do you make of the interest in the book? >> there's a lot of interest. she has a lot of supporters. she won the popular vote. she's very quick to point that out, she won as many -- i think except for barack obama. is validating for her. we heard this on our book tour. a lot of people wanted her book to come out because they wanted to hear her voice in this. >> from what you read so far, what's your biggest aha or surprise or takeaway. >> she's revealing for her. >> for her. >> for her. i wouldn't go farther than that. it's not like one big bombshell

where you say, wow, i can't believe she said that. she tried to be as revealing as possible. it's kind of cathartic for her and liberating. >> let me ask you. the mention of you in her book. in his book, block berg news reporter joshua green reveals that the trump campaign data scientists thought the comey letter was pivotal. in a letter written five days before election day, they quoted seeing decline toward clinton and thought this may have a fundamental impact on the final results. sadly they were right. your response. >> i think she's right. i got a lot of data and memos leaked from the trump campaign. she has ceased on what i think most interesting one because it show as what the trump campaign was seeing on the inside before

and after fbi director comey released that letter. there's absolutely no question both from the public data we had but also this private data that clinton talks about in this book that it had a pivotal effect on the race. the effect it had to shift voter sentiment away from clinton and donald trump. we could argue this was not the decisive factor in the race. i think clinton and a lot of people believe otherwise. >> she was asked in the interview to add on to what you're saying about ivanka trump. amy, this is her answer. she writes everyone associated with him, they're on board or not. if they're not, they need to be leaving. if they remain silen and give lip service to contrary points of view, they should be judged and held accountable for that. aka, read between the lines. yes, she is complicit, don't you

think? >> kind o like a pseudo democrat and they wanted her to be with democratic issues. they wanted to see more of that and they wanted her to kind of buck her father in some ways and they're disappointed. >> there's at least one person. the president and the entire administration. oh, there we go. what a happy class. yeah. now we're ready. the president and the entire administration continue to monitor the situation in puerto rico. the united states, the virgin islands, florida, texas, and all the areas affected by hurricanes irma and harvey. administrator long is traveling today and the president will be making a trip on thursday. the president's actions during these times demonstrate why he's a true leader [ ing the country together and getting things done for the

people. wants to continue building unity by working on more issues involving both parties especially cutting taxes for hard-working americans. last week in north dakota he invited democratic senator heidi heitkamp up on stage to weekend her during his tax reform event in her home state. tonight he'll host senator heitkamp along with colleagues from both parties. senators donnelly, hatch, manchin, and toomey to discuss achieving more tax reform. ahead of the dinner this evening, secretary mnuchin and direct director cohn are back on. the vice president also attended the weekly policy lunch and meeting with house leaders on the upcoming legislative agenda. on issues ranging from national security to hurricane relief to keeping our government functioning, the president is

reaching across the aisle to cut deals that help the american people. the president truly believes as he often says that in order to succeed and grow, we must work as one team, one people, and one american family. finally, speaking of family, i want to say a big congratulations to eric and laura trump. we look forward to meeting their new son. i el take your questions. >> director mark short speaking at "the christian science monitor" breakfast said one thing you learn from obamacare is you can't even rely on your own votes to come across the finish line. but at the same time you haven't gotten much partisan support either. with that in mind what do you do? >> i think start that conversation. start talking about things we all agree on. as i said many times, most even can agree americans should keep more of their money. they spend it far better than

the government can. i think that's something that is a common goal that a lot of people want to come together on. i think by nature of them sitting down with the president, that's a very good first start. they're not going to get ahead of the dinner tonight but i think it shows and is a great indicator that we have a big agenda and a very ambitious agenda. we want to work together to make sure we get as much of that done as possible. >> looks like you may want to get a by partisan lowering in, certainly middle-class cuts. the democrats are drawing the line for the highest income earners. can the president cut some sort of deal that sticks to his princip principles in. >> look. >> or is there an unbridgeable gulf there. >> the president, i think, has demonstrated both in his business world and as president that he can make deals and that's certainly what he's looking to do and he's going to work hard to make sure we get

the best deal possible on tax reform, but i think that starts with things like having this conversation and moving that ball forward, working by partisan support for both sides. >> they seem to express empathy for people who live in high tax states like new york and california. if the administration goes forward and congress approves the plan, theoretically theoretically i they could see an increase, not decrease. is the administration committed to doing something to help people in the high-tax states? >> look. we're woking with congress to make sure we get the best deal possible for all americans across the board and that includes people in high-tax states. matthew? >> thanks. it's being reports that the prime minister staying at the trump hotel, two questions on that. did that come up at all in conversations with the president during meetings and is it

problematic? >> i'm not sure about if that came up. i'm not aware that that was ever discussed, and we certainly don't book their hotel accommodations, so i couldn't speak to the personal decision they made about where to stay here in d.c. >> has there been any sort of attempt to curry flavor with the president? >> no, i don't. steve bann non-apparently told a rofu roomful of people te speaks with the president every two or three days. you said you thought they spoke only once. ? >> i don't think they speak that frequently. i'm aware of two conversations they had, and nothing beyond that. >> not every two or three days. >> no that i'm aware of. >> i want to get you quickly on one other topic. why has. president trump called the president of mexico in the wake of the earthquake?

>> they have a call scheduled today within this hour and we'll have a readout for you this afternoon. >> sarah a i pomgys if you asked this yesterday. >> it's oak. everybody here likes to ask the same question many times. >> is it true -- >> i think everybody knows where the president stand os that issue. the president is proud of the decision he made. he was 100% right in firing james comey. he knew at the time that it could be bad for him politically, but he also knew and felt he had an obligation to do what was right and do what was right for the american people and certainly the men and women at the fbi. i think there's no secret comey by his own self-admission leaked privileged government information weeks before president trump fired him. comey testified that an nbi agent engaged in the same practice, they'd face serious

repercussions. i think he set his own stage on that front. leaking memos to "the new york times," your own outlet. he signaled he would exonerate hillary clinton before he would interview her or others. he's vully vindicated by a lot of those new things and think it's the right thing. >> when the president goes down there, what is he going to be doing? >> those details will be finalized and we'll keep you posted on the travel. >> first a thought on the malaysian prime minister's visit. the probe, did that come up in conversation with the president today and secondly, a different matter, next week, of course, the president is going to new york, united nations general assembly. presidents usually try to get across an idea. what will president trump's be? >> i'm not aware of the the situation coming up in today's

meetings. in terms of the assembly, i don't want to get ahead too far. we'll plan to outline the plans and details at the end of this beak as we have done in past practice on the meetings and we'll certainly do that by the end of the week. >> you said the actions can be -- wow you'd. >> that's not his role. that's the didn't of justice. >> is that something you'd like to see? >> i'm not sure. if there's ever a moment we feel someone's broken the law, particularly if they're with the fbi, that's something that should be looked at. >> have they tested the hydrogen bomb? >> i'm not sure. >> yesterday when you talked about james comey you mentioned he gave false testimony.

i didn't hear you say that today. do you still stand by that? >> i did say that today. and he did. >> sorry. secondly, when it comes to steve bannon, "the wall street journal" reports they spoke the other night. do you know if they discussed the "60 minutes" interview and if it's something he would like to discuss it? >> he hasn't said whether he'd like to discuss that and at least me on that front. john gizy? >> thank you, sarah. two questions if i may. first going back to john's political question regarding the christians scientist monitor breakfast this morning the president was asked if he still supports senator luther strange. when i asked you that question, you said legal constraints kept you from answering. he said this morning he's standing by senator strange and he fully supports him in the

runoff to september 26th. is that the white house's official position? >> again, the president has liberties that i don't and legally i'm not allowed to comment on that, so i'm not going to weigh in on that conversation. i'm sorry. i'm not in a place where i can comment directly behind the podium about elections that are upcoming. >> my question is a political question as well. two united states senators face spirited primary challenges. state representative justin simmons, strong supporter of the president in pennsylvania declared his candidacy against congressman charlie dint who announced his run. >> again, i'm not going to weigh in on elections from the podium. that's something that the hajj hatch prohibits me from doing.

james. >> what did the president -- >> i think hi actually said this is a small step and part of the process. but, look, i think that the ultimate goal here is a denuclearized korean peninsula. that's what we vo to push toward. we're going to continue taking those small steps, but at the same time we know the very parties that voted to do this has to do more and the president's called on them to do more and we hope that they will. >> sarah, is the president comfortable with his son donald trump jr. testifying publicly up on capitol hill? >> i'm sorry? >> is the president comfortable with his son donald trump jr. testifying publicly on capitol hill? dianne feinstein as said she'd like to see that? >> we're going to be trance perrin and cooperative.

there was no wrongdoing and we're ready to see this come to its full conclusion. >> so the president would be comfortable -- >> the president is comfortable with us being fully trabs parent and cooperating with this process as we've done every day since it's started and may do every day going forward. >> jared kushner, was there any suggestion eller this year of him stepping aside? >> no, not that i'm aware of. and no representation as attorneys of both have gone on record to say. david. >> mark short also said the administration would not tithe bunding inin ining funding for the border wall. i think that leashes it to the interpretation of being open for the bill or the daca recipients

that would legalize them. >> i think what we're saying is what we've been saying all along. we haven't mixed messages here. we want responsible imgraduation reform. that hasn't changed. the president is very much committed to the wall. we're also committed to other principles we've laid out and none of those have changed. john decker. >> thank you, sarah. just a couple of questions. >> a couple? >> you mentioned guests this evening, three democratic senators. senators that are up for re-election next year. do you know how they were chosen first of all? >> i think by their willingness to want to sit down and have these conversations with the president. certainly something that we're looking forward to and hopefully will be very productive steps forward and having a very ambitious layout for the fall. >> the senator has indicated

he's not been invited but is open to tax reform. does that mean he could perhaps be a future guest of the president's for dinner? >> the administration has been clear. with want to sit down with anybody who's willing to be serious about real tax reform for this country, providing real relief and actually looking the make bold changes. those are the conversations we want to have. i would imagine if senator tester wants to be involved, we would belling le willing to ha conversation with him. alex. >> last week congress asked the pretty to legalize daca. why the change of heart? >> i think the president has spoken out very clearly he wants us to make this decision based on a variety of factors. but the number one thing is he wants responsible immigration reform and part of that is reviewing that in the process.

trey. >> what convinced him to want responsible immigration reform? >> sorry? >> what convinced him to want responsible immigration reform? >> i think the president's always wanted responsible immigration reform. he wants jobs protected and american citizens and that's why it's not one piece. it's comprehensive. >> first you said the leaking of information likely could have been illegal. you went on to say something that could be looked at. are you encouraging -- is this white house even couraging the didn't of justice to investigate the former fbi director james comey for leaking information? >> no. as i told hallie, this is anybody breaking the law. if they determine that that's the course of action to take, then they should certainly do that. but i'm not here to ever direct doj and the actions they should take. >> a lot of to conversations in

washington about the midterm elections in 2018, what role is he looking to play in the 2018 elections? will he be supporting the candidates and using leverage? >> he'll be looking to have members of congress support his agenda. >> look. i think the president is going to support the agenda, but in terms of specific elections and whether or not he's going to weigh in, as i said, i'm not going to be able to weigh in from the podium. say >> two topics, one thing, can you talk about the evening tomorrow, what's the crux of it? also it's supposed to be about charlottesville and hbo. >> i'm not getting ahead of their meeting. i'll be happy to provide information after the meeting is over. but at this point, it's certainly a conversation senator scott wanted to have with the president and he wanted to have

an opportunity to meet one on one with the senator. i'm not going to get into anything beyond that. >> is it happening or -- >> it is going forward. it is happening. it will take place at the white house. >> one last question. just finance an understanding, how does the president receive and get calls from his cell pho phone? >> i know it sounds trite. but there's been a there is controversies of how the president is handling it. and you are hearing steve bannon and you are saying you are could you talk to us about the use of the controlphone. is this during the day or after hours or what? there's been storying about the cell phone. >> that one hasn't been something i've seen a whole lot about